Exercise 1
Complete the sentences using one of these verbs in the correct form, present or past:
cause overtake damage show hold
surround invite translate make write
1 Many accidents ……………………. by dangerous driving.
2 Cheese ……………………. from milk.
3 The roof of the building ……………………. in a storm a few days ago.
4 You ……………………. to the wedding. Why didn’t you go?
5 A cinema is a place where films …………………….
6 In the United States, elections for president ……………………. every four years.
7 Originally the book ……………………. in Spanish, and a few years ago it ……………………. into English.
8 Although we were driving fast, we ……………………. by a lot of other cars.
9 You can’t see the house from the road. It ……………………. by trees.
Answers
1
1 are caused
2 is made
3 was damaged
4 were invited
5 are shown
6 are held
7 was written … was translated
8 were overtaken
9 is surrounded
Exercise 2
Write questions using the passive. Some are present and some are past.
1 Ask about glass. (how / make?) …………………….
2 Ask about television. (when / invent?) …………………….
3 Ask about mountains. (how / form?) …………………….
4 Ask about antibiotics. (when / discover?) …………………….
5 Ask about silver. (what / use for?) …………………….
Answers
2
1 How is glass made?
2 When was television invented?
3 How are mountains formed?
4 When were antibiotics discovered?
5 What is silver used for?
Exercise 3
Put the verb into the correct form, present simple or past simple, active or passive.
1 It’s a big factory. Five hundred people ……………………. (employ) there.
2 ……………………. (somebody I clean) this room yesterday?
3 Water ……………………. (cover) most of the earth’s surface.
4 How much of the earth’s surface ……………………. (cover) by water?
5 The park gates ……………………. (lock) at 6.30 p.m. every evening.
6 The letter ……………………. (send) a week ago and it (arrive) ……………………. yesterday.
7 The boat hit a rock and ……………………. (sink) quickly. Fortunately everybody ……………………. (rescue).
8 Robert’s parents ……………………. (die) when he was very young. He and his sister ……………………. (bring up) by their grandparents.
9 I was born in London, but I ……………………. (grow up) in Canada.
10 While I was on holiday, my camera ……………………. (steal) from my hotel room.
11 While I was on holiday, my camera ……………………. (disappear) from my hotel room.
12 Why ……………………. (Sue / resign) from her job? Didn’t she enjoy it?
13 Why ……………………. (Ben / fire) from his job? Did he do something wrong?
14 The company is not independent. It ……………………. (own) by a much larger company.
15 I saw an accident last night. Somebody ……………………. (call) an ambulance but nobody ……………………. (injure), so the ambulance ……………………. (not I need).
16 Where ……………………. (these pictures / take)? In London?
……………………. (you / take) them, or somebody else?
17 Sometimes it’s quite noisy living here, but it’s not a problem for me – I ……………………. (not / bother) by it.
Answers
3
1 are employed
2 Did somebody clean
3 covers
4 is covered
5 are locked
6 was sent … arrived
7 sank … was rescued
8 died … were brought up
9 grew up
10 was stolen
11 disappeared
12 did Sue resign
13 was Ben fired
14 is owned
15 called … was injured … wasn’t needed
16 were these pictures taken … Did you take
17 ‘m not bothered / am not bothered
Exercise 4
Rewrite these sentences. Instead of using somebody, they, people etc., write a passive sentence.
1 Somebody cleans the room every day.
…………………….
2 They cancelled all flights because of fog.
All …………………….
3 People don 1t use this road much.
…………………….
4 Somebody accused me of stealing money.
I …………………….
5 How do people learn languages?
How …………………….
6 People warned us not to go out alone.
…………………….
Answers
4
1 The room is cleaned every day.
2 All flights were cancelled because of fog.
3 This road isn’t used much.
4 I was accused of stealing money.
5 How are languages Learned/learnt?
6 We were warned not to go out alone.